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What is Earth Asking of the Dominican Order? |
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What is Earth Asking of the Dominican Order?
DELAWARE WATER GAP, PA Every preaching moment must foster a mutually enhancing relationship between Earth and human beings. This was the prevailing impetus for the Dominican Sisters International sponsored International Ecological Conference held June 9-19, 2006 at Genesis Farm. The conference brought together Dominicans from around the globe and included a weekend program at nearby St. Paul Abby, June 16-18.
The Conference, sponsored by Dominican Sisters International, (DSI) asked one of the most significant and expansive questions of our age: What is the Earth Asking of the Order? Provocative to say the least, some might even say presumptive. Yet the meeting participants grasped the deepest and most profound realities we face on this planet. Organizers hoped that by asking the largest questions, Dominicans would see the significance of the New Cosmology as the critical lens from which all preaching needs to flow and all justice action should emerge.
A message to the Dominican Family was prepared by the group in which they urged other Dominicans to explore the contemporary scientific understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe, recognize our dependency on corporate, industrial food systems and examine in depth our dependency on fossil fuel, among other recommendations.
It seemed like a wonderful coincidence that the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth is getting wide media attention on the issue of global warming when this gathering asks the Dominican Family to face questions of planetary survival and global responsibility. Participants sent a letter of support and thanks to Mr. Al Gore, former US Vice-President who is the featured speaker in the film.
Dominicans attended from New Zealand, South Africa, Philippines, Germany, Switzerland, India, Trinidad, Italy and the US. The weekend program was preceded by week-long study and conversation at nearby Genesis Farm for the members of the international community who attended. About 45 US Dominicans attended the weekend program.
Diane Jadgeo, OP,
from Trinidad, who holds a Ph.D in theology from Catholic University, addressed Development and Ecology from the Perspective of a Small Island Nation. She said, "Trinidad and Tobago is considered affluent in the Caribbean and enjoys plentiful natural resources. Yet, it has 25-35% of her people living in poverty. There is great crime, corruption and unemployment. She characterized her island home as holding a "vulgar prosperity". Why is it, she asks, that more money does not equal less crime, respect or cooperation? She added, "We treat the poor as if they have only one hunger – bread. All people hunger for truth, for beauty for goodness."Jadgeo said she is suspicious that the New Cosmology could be a "new white ploy" to continue the oppression of the poor. A startling statement from a theologian. Rather than New Cosmology, Jadgeo proposed the notion of Cosmic Sanctuary, since, in her view, cosmology remains a scientific idea. Cosmic sanctuary evokes the sense of home and brings together the ecological, scientific notions of who we are with our fundamental Dominican mission of connection and inclusion. "Even the sparrow finds a home in this sanctuary," she said.
Indeed she offered a new way to use earth language in our
justice making. The old justice model is a scale, which weighs things in a
balance. A new justice model is a river, that flows without end and honors all
of life. The river offers a natural balance, giving and receiving. Thus the
meeting converged the interests of justice and peace with care of creation.
Five bio-regions of the Earth saw representatives attend the meeting, each
presenting a particular issue or feature of that region. Judith Robinson, OP
(New Zealand), Ann Braudis, MM (Philippines) and Prakash Lohale, OP (India) used
the eastern chakras spirituality to lift up the ecological challenges of the
Asia/Pacific bio-region. Monika Huppi, OP (Switzerland and
Hanna Remke, OP (Germany) brought encouraging news of recycling and
environmental accountability from Europe. Sharon Zayac, OP
(Springfield, USA) and Jane Abell, OP (Houston, USA) offered a schematic of how
oil is at the heart of fossil-fuel energy consumption, ecological deterioration
and economic implications in North America. In South
Africa, Aloysia Zellmann, OP(South Africa) and Nobulali Bulurelo, OP
(Germany) described the lack of water and inadequate waste disposal management
that contributes to poverty and disease. Diane Jadgeo, OP (Trinidad) and Therese
Antoine, OP (Trinidad) focused on the impending disaster now taking place with
the development of two Alcoa Aluminum plants that are displacing thousands of
villagers in Trinidad. Weak pollution laws and government corruption make this
situation difficult to advocate against in Latin America/Caribbean.
Other presenters included a power point presentation by
Elize Garcia of
Sor
Juana Press on the Seeds of Possibilities:
Dominicans Laying the Foundation for the Ecozoic Era. Chris
Loughlin, OP (Kentucky) offered a set of grounding principles out of
which the international community in attendance had worked during the weeklong
session. Pat Siemen, OP (Adrian) offered some juridical
principles that apply law to the earth. A new
Center for Earth Jurisprudence is being launched by Barry
University and St. Thomas University, Miami, FL. The center will look at law and
governance from an earth-centered-rather than a human-centered-perspective.
Miriam MacGillis, OP (Caldwell) of
Genesis Farm also spoke and noted that the work of the
Dominican Order is in part "to correct perceptions of death and sexuality that
have crippled people for centuries." She added, that psychic energy is the same
as others - it moves toward the center, must be fed and sustained. When this
does not happen, the energy has to move away from the parent organization and
find a new place to be."
The International Community that was gathered at the meeting made a commitment
to carry forward the message of the meeting in each of their bio-regions. In the
US, Jane Abell, OP (Houston) and Sharon Zayac, OP (Springfield) agreed to do
that.
—from the DomLife webpage (http://www.domlife.org/), with permission of Anne Lythgoe, OP, Communications Coordinator, Dominican Leadership Conference.
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Preaching
is at the heart of the Dominican vocation. The Dominican Leadership
Conference claims for all members of the Dominican Family the right to
preach, and commits itself to the struggle this claim entails. The
injustices of our day compel us to place the charism of preaching at the
service of the poor and powerless. The Dominican prophetic message, rooted
in experience, study and prayer, will move both preachers and hearers of the
word to act for the transformation of oppressive structures. The Conference
on its part will act corporately, confronting evil with the Gospel and
working for the construction of a just world order. We embrace the mission of preaching for justice with a commitment to act in collaboration with one another and all those with and among whom we minister ------Dominican Leadership Conference (The latest additions are shown first. Click on an article title below to view it.)
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